For a long time, one of Canada’s largest residential landlords, Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT), admittedly did better at managing its properties than its staff did. Its workers were disengaged and unhappy, and their managers were not providing the right sort of feedback. “People didn’t feel they were being recognized for their efforts, they didn’t feel any sense of accomplishment, and the work they did was kind of just seen as, ‘Oh, that’s your work,’ ” says Jodi Lieberman, vice-president of human resources.

The Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago; hence we are now hearing a good deal about it. We are not, however, hearing much about the adverse impact this has been having on so many lives ever since. While the collapse of the wall freed the East Berliners of the shackles of communism, vast numbers of people around the world have since been shackled by another dogma, thanks to a misunderstanding of what brought that wall down.